Ben Mendelsohn talks Star Wars casting rumours

With the first Star Wars spin-off Rogue One appearing on the horizon, the rumour mill has clanked into gear, with Bloodline star Ben Mendelsohn rumoured to be circling a key role. And while Mendelsohn has yet to confirm whether the stories are true, he does sound extremely excited by the possibility…

"I’m absolutely not sure about any of this at all," said Mendelsohn when asked by EW. "It sounds great, and certainly— wouldn’t that be nice?" Particularly nice for Mendelsohn, as it turns out the star was something of a super-fan as a child…

"Enormous! I mean, enormous!" said Mendelsohn of his childhood fandom. "I’m the kid who had the whole set of trading cards. Enormous! I mean, I was born in 1969. The first one comes out in what, ‘77? The first Star Wars film was enormously important."

"I grew up right smack-bang in the sweet spot of all of those. It’s true cinema magic… It’s hard to overstate what a big deal that initial trilogy was for me, so certainly any talk of anything, I’d be thrilled if they were thinking about stuff like that. I heard about all of this hoopla yesterday. Who knows? Certainly, that would be very exciting."

Directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Rogue One will open in the UK and US on 16 December 2016.